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In a few days it will be Goodbye 2013. Another year has come and gone and I'm still here. You're still here too, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article, would you? This week we're going to discuss New Year's resolutions, why we make them, why we don't keep them, and why we bother with the whole business every stupid year. Actually I would rather discuss something else entirely, like why it never rains in Southern California during the day, only at night, or why pineapple upside-down cakes don't fall out of the pan when they're being cooked, but since this is New Year's I'm sort of obligated to write about New Year's in one way or another, usually another.

It might interest you to know (or maybe not) that many people make New Year's resolutions with absolutely no intention of keeping them; it's called the Obama factor. Then there are those with the sincere intention of keeping their resolutions who don't keep them either. The difference between these two groups is that the first group lives guilt free all year long, while the second group goes around for the next 12 months with heaviness in the heart, a lump in their stomach, and worry on their minds. Guilt can be debilitating. As a matter of fact, a good resolution might be to resolve to do away with your guilty conscience. And the best way to do that would be to resolve to make no New Year's resolutions in the first place, or in the second place either.

According to the book, "The Most Popular Resolutions Ever Made, as if Anybody Really Gives a Darn" the favorite ones include: Losing weight, Quitting smoking, Exercising more, Spending more time with family, Eating better, Saving money, and Beating the crap out of Justin Beeber. The last one being the easiest to keep, of course. The trick being to get close enough to get your hands on him before his bodyguards beat the crap out of YOU.

Here's a question, if someone makes a promise (or resolution) to do something that he or she never intended to keep, does that qualify as: A. a failed resolution, B. a broken promise, C. a bald-faced lie, or D. all of the above. Let's take the following as an example: "If you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor; if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan. Period." That failed promise (or resolution) by Barack Obama qualifies as one of the biggest failed promises made by an American president in history, right along with George H.W. Bush's "read my lips, no new taxes."

But here's the difference. It's likely Bush had every intention of keeping his promise when he said those words. Circumstances and politics probably swayed him to compromise his pledge to the people. Even so, he should have stuck to his guns and not raised taxes, or if he absolutely had to raise taxes, then he should have gone before the people and made his case. But he didn't, and for that history will remember him as a president who went back on his word.

In the case of Obama, however, I find it hard to believe that the man didn't know all along he was lying to the American people. This wasn't one single statement made off the cuff, that pledge was said over and over again in speech after speech for at least 3 or 4 years. That statement was his main argument in order to sell his socialized medicine scheme to America. No, the guy knew he was lying, he had to know.

But why didn't he realize that at some point in the future it would all come out? If you're the smartest guy in the room, how do you not know that? Chalk it up to believing in his own myth and godly infallibility maybe. After all, he was sold initially as the Second Coming, maybe he actually believes it himself. The magic of narcissistic super ego trumps truth and everything else. Or maybe the thought was, "once it's passed, who cares? It's settled law." Or maybe lying just comes easy for a man who has been lying about lots of things for a long time now.

So while Bush's "Read my lips…" will go down in the history books as a stupid broken promise, Obama's "If you like your doctor and your insurance you can keep them," will go down as much worse. It will be known as the biggest lie ever told to the American people by a sitting president. That lie even beats Bill Clinton's "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinski." Clinton's lie was about denying sex in the Oval Office, Obama's lie will quite literally impact the life and death of all Americans from now on.

So if you break your New Year's resolutions in the coming year, try not to feel too guilty about it for too long. Remember, Obama has broken a much bigger promise and it appears he hasn't experienced a minute of guilt over it.

Besides, there are worse things than breaking your New Year's resolutions, you might break your leg, and then you'll have to deal with Obamacare. And if you are one of the ones who voted for that guy, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND FEEL GUILTY.

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JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.